Blog: music licensing

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Will more artists release full songs to social media in 2025?

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Tatiana Cirisano

19 Sep 2024

Music streaming

It is now a standard part of most music rollouts to release a clip of the song on social video platforms before it hits streaming. This makes sense when you think of social media as a marketing tool. But as social video has ascended (and arguably become more about entertainment than connecting socially), apps like TikTok are now quasi-consumption platforms in their own right.

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In generative AI and music, will nice guys finish last?

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Tatiana Cirisano

22 May 2024

artificial intelligence

Generative AI music company Suno has raised $125 million, one of the biggest music-tech funding rounds in history . Founders say they want to ring in “a future where anyone can make music”, but questions remain over whether Suno and its rival, Udio, have trained their models on copyrighted music without licensing deals.

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What TikTok and Spotify have in common

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Tatiana Cirisano

2 May 2024

In all likelihood, it has been years since anyone working in music went a week without talking about TikTok. In fact, the same probably goes for anyone with an internet connection. The platform’s clash — and now, reunion — with Universal Music Group; potential to be banned in the U.

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Could YouTube be the music-first social platform the industry needs?

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Tatiana Cirisano

22 Feb 2024

In December, we mused on what could happen if artists collectively stepped off the content treadmill. With Universal Music Group (UMG) removing its catalogue from TikTok, that thought experiment came startlingly close to fruition.

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What is at stake in the TikTok-UMG showdown

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Tatiana Cirisano

1 Feb 2024

Music streaming

Universal Music Group

Music’s biggest on-again, off-again relationship just took a turn for the ugly, as Universal Music Group is pulling its music off TikTok. We have seen this movie before: Every time the music industry negotiates licenses with social platforms, the battle boils down to a question of who needs the other more.

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AI, music rights, and known unknowns

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Mark Mulligan

31 Aug 2023

artificial intelligence

The music industry is approaching a tipping point, with the building blocks of what will be the post-streaming era beginning to fall into place.The streaming era will make way for something new. Innovation, disruption, and change will define the coming years, with AI, fandom, and the creator economy centre stage.

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UMG, Endel, and the case for labels in the AI space

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Tatiana Cirisano

1 Jun 2023

Universal Music Group

Warner Music Group

The flood of new music created using artificial intelligence (AI) will further erode major label market share, and some label executives’ recent comments about the value of human-made music seem to put those fears in plain sight.

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Could AI generate music’s Instagram moment?

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Tatiana Cirisano

31 Jan 2023

Music streaming

Pop quiz: Is the hit ‘Kill Bill’ sung by SZA or Ariana Grande? The answer is, of course, SZA, but TikTok users could be forgiven for any confusion. An artificial-intelligence-generated version sung in Grande’s voice has been circulating the platform, causing a frenzy.

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What Elon's Twitter means for music

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Tatiana Cirisano

29 Nov 2022

Content Creators

When we wrote about Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter back in April, the idea that it would actually happen seemed far-fetched. Now, of course, Musk really is in charge, and the fate of the social platform, which 24% of consumers use weekly, is unclear.

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The record labels’ TikTok opportunity cost

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Tatiana Cirisano

22 Nov 2022

Music streaming

With their short-term music licensing agreements soon to expire, record labels are reportedly pressuring TikTok to sign an ad revenue share agreement, which would see TikTok pay a share of advertising revenue to music rightsholders.

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With Meta’s revenue share program, can rights holders and platforms finally agree?

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Tatiana Cirisano

28 Jul 2022

Streaming Music

user-generated content

Content Creators

Over the last week, Meta made headlines three times in relation to music on its platforms (Instagram and Facebook). First, royalty-free music provider Epidemic Sound sued Meta for allegedly allowing users to incorporate its music without the proper licenses.

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Is Spotify’s Acquisition of Gimlet (the ‘HBO for audio’) the Beginning of the Audio Influencer Boom?

Georgia Meyer

7 Feb 2019

Audio ad engagement

Following six days of speculation, Spotify announced yesterdaythat it is acquiring Gimlet Media (comprising Gimlet – the production house, and Anchor – the production, distribution and monetisation software tool), for an undisclosed sum.

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Exclusive: Deezer Is Exploring User Centric Licensing

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Mark Mulligan

19 Apr 2017

music licensing

Music streaming

One of the great, though less heralded, successes of streaming in 2016 was keeping the lid on artist angst. Previous years had been defined by seemingly endless complaints from worried and angry artists and songwriters.

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Universal And Spotify’s Deal Is An Even Bigger Deal Than It Looks

Mark Mulligan

4 Apr 2017

music licensing

Universal Music and Spotify have finally agreed on terms for the streaming service’s new licensing deal which reportedly includes better rates tied to growth targets and premium windowing. Check out Tim Ingham’s piece for detail on the deal.

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Bad Data Is The Worm In The Apple For Streaming Music

Mark Mulligan

14 Mar 2016

2016 is proving to be tricky year for streaming rights. No sooner did it start to look like artists and labels were beginning to feel comfortable with streaming then along come a veritable flood of songwriter class action suits in the US, against TIDAL , Rhapsody and Spotify , twice .

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Pandora’s Serial Deal Shows That Music Alone Is No Longer Enough

Mark Mulligan

3 Nov 2015

Pandora this week announced that it signed a deal to become the exclusive streaming partner for hugely successful podcast Serial. The move is interesting on many fronts, not least what impact having near-on-demand content within the otherwise only semi-interactive environment will have on users.

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